Smart eBike: Like a Turbo For Your Legs

Smart is no stranger to battery-driven transpo-- remember their ForTwo Electric Drive?-- and their latest stab at electron-driven locomotion helps human-powered two-wheelers live better through electricity while saving muscle effort along the way.

The Smart eBike isn't completely electrically-powered (they call it a "pedelec," short for pedal electric cycle), but its 423 Wh lithium-ion battery acts like a turbocharger for your legs, making it disarmingly easy to accelerate up hills and across level ground. The bike is techically a hybrid: a rear-wheel hub motor automatically activates when the rider pedals, and energy is funneled back into the battery depending on how the regeneration levels are set on the handlebar-mounted LCD display. Depending on usage, the removable battery can last up to 60 miles before it's recharged using a standard wall plug.

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A quick spin on the eBike revealed a surprisingly fun ride, and its unexpected zippiness encouraged more steep hillclimbs than I would have normally attempted. Surpassing the electric motor's top speed of 25 km/h (15.5 mph) makes it feel like somebody's surreptitiously dragging the brake lever; running out of juice will require quite a bit of extra effort to lug around this 61-pound mass of aluminum.

Smart will be testing their eBike in various U.S. cities, and calibrating pricing and specifications according to their findings. Let's hope it rings in at a more affordable MSRP than the current asking price of €2,849 (roughly $3,700) when it reaches our shores in 2013.